Baxian Grill: Relaxed Open-Air Rechao Near Da’an Park

Rechao (stir-fried food, often accompanied by copious amounts of beer) is such a staple of life in Taipei and such a casual ordeal that we often forget to post about it. With so many rechao restaurants lining the streets of Taipei, everyone and their mother has a favourite, and usually more than one. There are a handful of rechao restaurants across the city that we regularly visit, and one that we’ve been liking recently is Baxian Grill, a popular open-air spot near Da’an Park. With red lanterns and a rustic wooden interior, this restaurant has such a cool atmosphere that we keep coming back with new groups of friends to soak it all in.

Depending on the weather, the outdoor section on the second floor may be fully or partially open-air. They’re pretty on top of adjusting the roof, so even if there’s a chance of rain you shouldn’t be worried about sitting out in the open. As with other rechao restaurants, you help yourself to beer from a fridge in the back and keep the beer bottles so the waitresses can keep track of how much you ordered at the end. The ordering process for food is relatively simple, as the restaurant has both a Chinese and English menu. The English menu isn’t perfect (some prices and items are missing) so if there’s something in this post that you don’t see on there, feel free to ask them for it directly — it probably just didn’t make the final cut on the menu. We’ve noted down most of the prices but have left some blank because we weren’t quite sure how much it cost — in the end, though, we paid around $2500 for six people, which included three servings of fried rice, four bottles of beer, and a lot of food.

The first thing we got was a complimentary dish of the wok-fried river clams. These were nice, but not super exciting; they were slightly spicy and seasoned with ginger, garlic, and basil, which made for a nice sauce but wasn’t super memorable. It was nice to get for free and to pick at, but we probably wouldn’t order it.

Next, a classic: steamed cabbage with garlic. This is a must-order for us whenever we go to rechao, and their version didn’t disappoint.

We also got one order of the stir-fried beef with sha cha sauce ($150). This was a nice, garlicky dish with a decent crunch from the vegetables.

A popular choice with us was the gong bao chicken ($150), which went down extremely well with our table and got gobbled up in minutes. The chicken was a little sweet, and the peanuts added a nutty crunch that we couldn’t get enough of.

The tofu teppanyaki ($200) was another great choice. The tofu was melt-in-your-mouth tender and slathered in a tasty sauce, sizzling away on a bed of vegetables. If we hadn’t ordered so much food we would have ordered another one of these!

If you’re in the mood for some serious comfort food, we highly recommend the batter-fried sweet and sour chicken ($150). This is exactly like something you’d find at a Chinese restaurant in the west (think General Tso’s) and was the perfect mix of sticky and sweet. We loved this so much that we were scraping the last of the sauce onto our plates to soak up the rice.

The three-cup chicken ($250) is another classic that we loved here. The sweet soy sauce and basil that the chicken is cooked in never disappoints, and we cleared the bowl in minutes.

Probably our very favourite dish of the night was the fish with miso ($150), which was absolutely out of this world delicious. This was so good that even the fish-haters of the group agreed that it was phenomenal — think soft, buttery fish that practically falls apart as you pick it up drizzled in a salty miso glaze. Outstanding. This is a must-order item!

One dish that let us down a little was the mapo dofu. We love ordering this every chance we get, and this one wasn’t quite up to scratch — the sauce was a tad watery and the flavour was slightly off. It wasn’t bad — not so bad we’d send it back — but we probably wouldn’t get it again.

Another small disappointment was the rice situation. Unlike most of the other rechaos you go to (where you can self-serve bottomless rice), you have to pay $10 for each bowl of rice, which would be okay if they didn’t forget about it until the end. We ended up having to remind them a few times and then finally changing our order to fried rice because we didn’t want to get stuck with six bowls of white rice and nothing to go with it. We know it’s not too big a deal, but this meal would have been vastly improved if our rice had just come on time, so that’s something you may want to remember if coming here — remind, remind, and remind them again!

All things considered, we liked our meal at Baxian Grill. The food was decent overall and there were plenty of dishes that we loved, even if the mapo dofu let us down. Do note that the foreigners among us were a little more generous in their reviews of the food than the Taiwanese, who felt that the quality was not on par with some of the better rechao places in Taipei. The service left a little to be desired at points in terms of efficiency and attitude, but it really wasn’t a big deal. All things said, what this place has that makes it stand out is the open-air seating upstairs — it’s really cool spot to chill out with beers and food. Ultimately, we like to come here to soak in the atmosphere because, honestly speaking, we’re not too picky when it comes to rechao food. If you value the setting and don’t mind that your food isn’t the best in the city (but seriously, still very good) you’ll probably love this place as much as we do!

Check out their English menu down below — note that some prices and menu items are missing. They are there if you ask for them.

What’s the vibe?

Popular open-air rechao restaurant usually teeming with locals. The service can be a little, um, brisk at times, but overall it has a pleasant atmosphere.

Worth it?

We think so, but mostly for the cool atmosphere. There are cheaper rechao restaurants and those that have slightly better food, but if you aren’t fussy then you’ll probably enjoy this place for the unique rooftop situation they’ve got going on.

Would you go back?

We’ve been back quite a few times, but it’s not the only rechao restaurant we like. Watch this space for more recommendations!

Last updated February 2020.